Published 2:26 pm, Wednesday, October 14, 2015

The Midland County Sheriff's Office received an inevitable email last month: The federal government had plans to recall two of the department’s three military-style armored vehicles.

As part of President Obama’s executive order issued earlier this year, local law enforcement agencies with certain types of military-style gear obtained through the federal 1033 program -- which granted surplus military gear to local agencies -- are being required to return the equipment.

The recall was prompted by incidents in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere that pitted protesters against police forces armed with military gear, weapons and vehicles. It’s the president’s first move toward “demilitarizing” local police forces.

“We’ve seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people the feeling like there’s an occupying force as opposed to a force that’s part of the community that’s protecting them and serving them,” Obama said in a speech last May. “So we’re going to prohibit some equipment made for the battlefield that is not appropriate for local police departments.”

But the move has been widely criticized by local law enforcement officials, who claim that the gear is necessary for protecting the lives of officers and effectively carrying out dangerous duties.

“They don’t want law enforcement to have, in my opinion, adequate protection, protection that it needs,” said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter.

Up for recall within the Midland County Sheriff's Office are two armored personnel carriers -- Vietnam-era vehicles that are more than 50 years old. Because of cost-prohibitive maintenance and repair costs, only one of those vehicles is operational.

“I don’t understand the reasoning behind it and why they would take back something,” Painter said. “I mean we’ve used them multiple times. They’ve been highly successful in protecting officers and protecting the public.”

The department acquired the two APCs and a mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle through the 1033 program, which was initiated in 1997. The program allowed the transfer to law enforcement agencies of excess Department of Defense property that might otherwise be destroyed.

The Midland Police Department also possesses a military-style armored personnel carrier, but the city’s vehicle was paid for by seized funds and is not subject to recall, according to city officials.

A majority of the items transferred to local agencies are items such as office furniture, radio equipment, computers, firearms and protective gear.

The recall order issued from Washington pertains to equipment such as tracked armored vehicles, bayonets, grenade launchers, large caliber weapons and ammunition, according to the written order. Law enforcement agencies will be required to provide additional training and certification when applying for this specialized equipment in the future.

The sheriff's office’s two APCs are tracked vehicles and fall into the category of now-prohibited items. The department will be allowed to keep the MRAP, which is a rubber-tired vehicle.

But the APCs have certain perceptible advantages, Painter said. The tracked vehicles were able to deliver police closer to the scene of the crime.

“It’s going to make us less effective. You hear that APC coming and people are going to give up,” Painter said. “They know they can’t stop it; they know they can’t penetrate it.”

The vehicles have been used in several standoffs in the Midland-Odessa area, including one between Victor White and authorities in Ector County in 2010. A 22-hour standoff ensued between White and authorities after White shot and injured two deputies and a civilian. White surrendered after encountering the MCSO’s armored vehicle.

“We managed to get right up on top of him with that thing, and he gave up when he saw it,” Painter said.

The executive order went into effect at the beginning of this month, and federal authorities will coordinate with local authorities to pick up the vehicles before April, according to the federal Defense Logistics Agency. Agencies are permitted to use the vehicles until the DLA Disposition service picks them up.